Automatic mail-delivering apparatus.



PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

0. U. GREELEY. AUTOMATIC MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1, 190B.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

rn: NORRIS PEYER 6a., WASHINGTON r .No. 892,250. I .PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908. O. U. GREELEY. AUTOMATIC MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILE D FEB. 1, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

attorney 3 CHARLES U. GREELEY, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

AUTOMATIC MAIL-DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Application filed February 1, 1908.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be' it known that I, CHARL s U. GREELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor, in the county of Penobscot, State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Mail-Delivering Apparatus, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for delivering mail packages from moving trains, the object being to provide an apparatus for such purpose including a simple appliance for releasing automatically the mail package from the car, and also a permanent receptacle designed not only to receive the package with certainty whatever its size or rate of speed, but to take up the impact and ease the same without shock to the point of rest, in such a manner as to cause a minimum amount of shock, and wear and tear on the bag, and injury to the contents.

Generally speaking, it may be stated that the apparatus has been devised in conformity with the well known re uirements of the United States Railway N ail Service, as to simplicity, capability of operation at a high rate of speed of the moving train; capability of operation of the delivering device through either sliding or swinging doors; as to State laws regulating clearance or height of any projection from a car above the platform, and also the space between the car and the receptacle for the delivered packages; as to minimizing the danger to the mail clerk in operating the device; as to eliminating entirely the necessity of attention on the part of anyone as to setting or operating the station fixture or receptacle; as to the elimination of a housing to protect the receptacle; and finally as to the elimination of danger from the tampering with it by mischievous or unauthorized persons.

In view of the fact that it must be possible to deliver packages weighing as much as 200 pounds from a car traveling at the rate of 60 miles per hour, which means that at the moment of its release the package has an energy of 30 horse power and more, means Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1908.

Serial No. 413,768.

must be devised for suspending the package from the side of the car in such manner that at the proper time and independent of any skill orjudgment of the operator,it willbe released by a trip bearing a fixed position relative to the receptacle; and that under the necessity of sustaining and easing down an impact so powerful, such receptacle must apply in its operation the principle of sliding friction upon two or more relatively opposing inclined planes.

Another object of my invention, is to provide a delivery device which will operate in either direction in which a car may be moving on a track, thus rendering it adaptable to single track roads, or rendering it possible to deliver on the backing as well as forward movement of a train.

Another object is to provide a modified form of receptacle adapted particularly for single track roads.

WVith these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described. and referred to in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a car showing my apparatus applied thereto in position for delivering a mail package, the recepta le also being shown in perspective; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of a car with my delivering device applied thereto, the position of the latter when in position for the package to be hung thereon by the railway mail clerk being shown in dotted lines, and the position after the de livery of the bag being shown in full lines; Fig. 3 is a sectional side view of the receptacle or station fixture; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bag-holding device; and Fig. 5 is a side view thereof.

In these drawings, A represents the side of a car which is of the usual construction, with sliding or swinging doors closing the side entrance. Upon either side of the side entrance are arranged sockets, two of which a, a, are laced one above the other, while the third, is near the opening.

The sucp orting framework B is composed of a rigi bar or rod C, of suitable dimena block sions and material as required, which at its inner end is pivoted to the upper one of the ears a, and at its opposite end is bent to form a yoke c.

A brace rod D is pivoted at one end. to the lower ear (1 and at its opposite end is secured to the bar or rod C. By this construction, the supporting framework may be swung to the position necessary to enable the operator to hang the bag thereon, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, or to position for delivering the bag, as shown in Fig. 1, or to the opposite inoperative position, as shown'in full lines in Fig. 2, which position it assumes after the bag has been released.

A push or pull rod E Ipivoted at d to the rod or bar C, and adaptec to fit a socket b, is provided to enable the operator readily to manipulate the framework and when the end ing said bar or rod C, is a carriage or block 6, to which is secured a bolt or barf, which I call the mail bag catch. This catch f moves in and out with the block (1, and is guided in the loops g, and at its outer end passes into a keeper g formed in the outer arm of the yoke c. The sliding carriage or e is operated through the link F, pivoted at one end to said block, and at the other end to the arm G at the point-h. This arm G is pivoted to the bar C, and is capable of swinging in either direction and entirely around its pivot i.

In order to prevent accidental displacement of the catch, means such as a spring is are provided, secured at one end to bar C and frictionally holding the block 6 in either its forward or retracted position.

The arm G extends. out beyond the end of the bar 0 into the path of a stationary trip, preferably mounted as herein shown on the receptacle, which will be hereinafter described. This arm G when struck by the tri will be moved laterally to operate the sliding bolt or catch, which holds the bag, and thus release the latter and allow it to drop.

When the mail clerk desires to hang a mail package upon the car fixture, he simply manipulates the lever G, in order that the bolt may be slid into position and the mail bag hung thereon. He does this when the xture is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2; that is, swung across the door. He then moves the fixture out into position at right angles to the side of the car, and looks it in that position by means of the rod E, or as the momentum of the car may keep it substantially at right angles, he need not necessarily fasten it.

When the arm G has been struck by the projection and the bag released, the fixture may be hauled in or preferably allowed to swing back against the car in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that by this construction of supporting framework and mail bag supporting catch, not only a very simple and comparatively cheap structure is provided, but by reason of what I call the reversibility of the arm G, that is, its capability of swinging entirely around its pivot, it is capable of working without shifting position when the car is going forward or backward. Furthermore, when struck by the stationary trip, there is absolutely no shock, because it yields and is forced entirely out of the way by the projection.

The receptacle which I have devised for receiving and easing down and stopping the delivered package, is shown in Figsjl' and 3. It consists of a rectangular box H, preferably of sheet steel, open at either end, and having i-nclosing sides I. Adjacent to each end is a down wardly inclined vertical deflecting wall K, spaced above the bottom of the box, a hinged or flexible flap L, closing said space and forming a continuation of the wall K. These two sets of members K, L and K, L, form oppositely inclined planes, the under side of the wall K at whatever happens to be the receiving end, receiving the impact of the package as it leaves the catch, deflecting it downwardly to the bottom of the box and through the flap L, the opposite flap L serving to deflect it upwardly, and if its momentum be great enough, it strikes the wall M, which is inclined upwardly toward the direction from which the package came,

and is stopped thereby and drops into the space between the flaps, L, L.

The receptacle just described, it will be readily seen, is a double device, that is adapted for single track roads, where the delivery has to be from both directions. It will be seen that by this arrangement, the double-acting rece tacle requires little more space and materia than the single. In the case of a double track road, one end could be entirely closed, and the wall K adjacent the closed end be dispensed with and the flap L fixed in position.

Secured to the receptacle at the proper height is an arm N, carrying a trip 0, arranged in the path of movement of the lever G, and which operates said lever to release the mail ackage in the manner hereinbefore describec.

The operation of the device will be readily apparent.

It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of the of ro er dimensions seaaso parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz

1. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, a supporting framework, a mail bag holding catch supported thereby, means for operating said catch including an arm capable of operation in either direction relative to j said framework entirely about the pivot.

2. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, a framework attached to the car, a sliding support for the mail bag attached to said framework, and means for positively operating said support including a swinging arm with connections between it and the support, said arm being capable of movement entirely around its pivot point.

3. In a mail bag de ivering a paratus, a framework attached to the car, a ar adapted to engage the mail bag, a support for said bar, and means for sliding said sup ort, including a link pivoted at one en to the support, and at the other end to a reversibly acting arm pivoted to the framework.

4. In a mail bag delivering ap aratus, a framework attached to the car and movable into an operative osition at right angles thereto, a support or the mail ba slidable thereon in a direction at right ang es to the car, and means for operating said support, including a swinging arm also extending at right angles to the car and swinging laterally in either direction to operate the support and means for connecting said arm to said support.

5. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, a framework attached to the car, a carriage sliding thereon, a mail bag support attached to said carriage, a link pivoted at one end to said carriage, an arm pivoted at one end to the framework, andto which the other end of the link is pivoted, said arm having swinging movement about its pivot, whereby it may be 0 erated by a stationary projection alongsice the track in either direction in which the car may be moving.

6. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, a framework attached to the car, a carriage sliding thereon, a mail bag su port attached to said carriage, a link pivoted at one end to said carriage, an arm pivoted at one end to the framework, and to which the other end of the link is pivoted, said arm having swinging movement about its pivot, whereby it may be operated by a stationary projection alongside the track in either direction in which the car may be moving, and means for preventing accidental displacement of the support.

7. A receptacle for mail packages, automatically delivered from moving trains, having inclosing side walls, a vertically inclined deflecting wall spaced above the bottom of the receptacle to receive the impact and de flect the package downwardl and an oppositely arranged vertically inc ined wall to deflect the package upwardly.

8. A rece tacle for mail ackages automatically delivered from moving trains, having inclosing side walls, a deflecting wall inclined downwardly and spaced above the bottom of the receptacle to receive the imact and deflect the package downwardly to the bottom, an o positely vertically inclined wall extending rom the bottom upwardl and spaced from the top, and an inclined wa 1 above the second wall and projecting toward the receiving end of the receptacle.

9. A rece tacle for mail packages, automatically de ivered from moving trains, hav ing inclosing side walls and having at each end, a deflecting wall inclined downwardly and spaced above the bottom of the receptacle to receive the impact and deflect the ackage downwardly to the bottom, movable a s for closing the space between the said inc ined walls and the bottom of the receptacle, each flap beyond that end'which is serving as the receiving end acting to upwardly deflect the package.

10. A receptacle for mail packages, automatically delivered from moving trains, having inclosing side walls and having at each end, a deflecting wall inclined downwardly and spaced above the bottom of the receptacle to receive the impact and deflect the ackage downwardly to the bottom, movable a s for closing the space between the said inc ined walls and the bottom of the receptacle, each flap beyond that end which is serving as the receiving end acting to upwardly deflect the ackage, and inclined walls above said de ecting flaps projecting toward the opposite end of the receptacle.

11. In a mail ba delivering ap aratus, a framework attached to the car, anc a sliding support for the mail bag carried by said framework, means for operating said sup ort, including a pivoted arm swinging in a iorizontal around its pivot to release the catch, and a stationary rece tacle having a projection in the path of saic ivoted arm.

12. In a mail a delivering apparatus, a framework attached to the car, and a slidin support for the mail bag carried by said framework, means for operating said support, including a pivoted arm swinging in a orizontal plane around its pivot, and a stationary receptacle .having 0 positely vertically inclined deflecting walIs, that at the receiving end being spaced above the botplane in either direction entirely tom, and having said pivoted arm.

13. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, a framework attached to the car, and a sliding support for the mail bag carried by said amework, means for operating said support, including a pivoted arm swinging in a horizontal plane around its pivot, and a staa projection in the path of tionary receptacle having oppositely verti-i cally inclined deflecting Walls, that at the receiving end being spaced above the bottom, and provided with a movable flap and having a projection in the path of said pivoted arm.

entirely about its pivot.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature, 20

in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES U. GREELEY.

Witnesses:

A. M. PARKINS, GRACE P. BRERETON.

ho ding catch 15 

